The resale right is a fundamental right for authors of graphic and plastic arts.It consists of a small percentage of the resale price that art market professionals pay to them at each resale of their works be it in auction or in a gallery.

The specificity of visual artists is that their primary source of income is the material selling of their original works. While auction houses and galleries make their business by taking commissions, it would be paradoxical that artists do not benefit from the income generated by their works on the art market.

This is why the resale right, which is not applicable to first sales and therefore not on those galleries that do the work of promoting artists, was created. It also helps to restore the balance with the authors of other creative sectors (composers, screen-writers and film directors, writers, ... ) whose rights of reproduction and communication to the public cannot be compared with those of visual artists.

Recognized in more than 65 countries (the 28 members of the European Union but also Australia, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Tunisia, Senegal, ... ) the right is unfortunately not obligatory under the International Berne Convention on copyright.

In a global world, the protection of artists should be the same in different places of the art market, be it London, Paris, New York or Hong Kong. Moreover, the United States and China, the first two art markets in the world, began the legislative process to recognize this right. Canada is also considering its introduction. At the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), more and more voices are calling for the right to become mandatory within the Berne Convention.

Thus, the authors of fine arts from the five continents - and not just those of Western countries - must be able to benefit from the wealth generated by the sales of their creations. And the first ones being concerned are the artists from emerging countries whose works are purchased at low prices and then resold with significant gains on the art markets of Western countries.

By my signature, I support the initiative of countries that want to recognize the resale right and demand to achieve equality between artists from around the world and that the right becomes, under the auspices of WIPO, a global right.